Early life

The youngest of four children, Ralph Lifshitz was born in the Bronx, New
York, on October 14, 1939. His father was a house-painter. Ralph became
interested in clothes when he was in seventh grade. While attending
DeWitt Clinton High School in New York, he worked part-time for New York
department stores, saving his money to buy clothes. He changed his name
to Lauren in the mid-1950s. After graduating from high school he worked
as a salesman and began studying business at night. He quit school after
a few months, spent time in the army, and then looked for a job in
fashion.

Creates popular fashions

In 1967 Lauren was hired by Beau Brummell Ties as a designer. His wide,
colorful ties were the opposite of the narrow dark neckties common at
the time; they sold well and started a new trend. Lauren started his own
company and the next year launched a line of men's clothing,
Polo, offering styles that were a mix of English and American styles and
that expressed an image of class. Lauren's menswear was a
success, and in 1971 he introduced his women's line. As the years
went by he continued to branch out into children's clothes,
colognes, footwear, home products, and other merchandise.

Lauren designed costumes for the films
The Great Gatsby
(1973) and
Annie Hall
(1978) that influenced the way millions dressed. Modestly describing
his work, Lauren stated, "I believe in clothes that last, that
are not dated in a season. The people who wear my clothes don't
think of them as fashion.' Lauren's vision was to
represent American style with a dash of British elegance and the comfort
of natural fibers.

Lauren lived the image he projected, and he was often featured with his
family in magazines devoted to lives of the rich and famous. He was also
the first designer to appear in his own advertising. One of the secrets
of Lauren's success lay in his attention to detail, always
checking product quality and maintaining tight control over the brand
image he crafted so carefully. Lauren's fashion formula earned
many honors from his peers. He had seven Coty design awards and was
inducted into the Coty Hall of Fame in 1986. In 1992 he received the
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of American Fashion
Designers and a tribute for twenty-five years of impact on American
style from the Woolmark Awards. The Council of Fashion Designers later
elected him Designer of the Year in 1996.

Smart businessman

In 1971 Lauren opened his first retail store in Beverly Hills,
California, building toward a total of 116 Polo-Ralph Lauren stores in
the United States as well as 1,300 boutiques (small shops within
department stores). In 1986 he made fashion retailing history with a
large megastore housed in the elegant former Rhinelander Mansion in New
York. John Fairchild, chairman of
Women's Wear Daily,
called it "The best boutique in America, probably the
world." Consumers responded, spending over $5 billion a year by
1997 to have the Lauren look and making him the best-selling designer in
the world.

Two major new ventures begun in 1995 took Lauren into the highly
competitive blue jean and mass-market women's clothing
categories. Both took the Lauren name to a new customer at lower prices
and were instant hits. In 1996 Lauren's Home Collection
contributed about $535 million in sales world-wide—more than any
other designer. Paints were launched the same year, along with
instruction videos and all the tools needed to create the living
environment of one's choice. By 1997 investment bankers were
fighting for the opportunity to help Lauren put his company on the stock
market.

In 1998 Lauren announced that his company would donate $13 million to
the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., mainly to preserve the
original American flag that inspired the writing of "The
Star-Spangled Banner" in 1812. That same year he was honored for
his efforts to raise money for research into a cure for breast cancer.
In 2000 the company's Web site,
Polo.com
, was introduced, allowing online access to all Ralph Lauren products.
Lauren's charitable contributions continued with the creation of
the Polo Volunteer Program and the contribution of $5 million to
establish the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Prevention and Care at
North General Hospital in Harlem, New York.

User Contributions:

Great article!
I'm a seventh grader in Barnhart Middle School and I want to be a fashion designer too.
This article is really going to help me. I'm also doing research on Vera Wang, Chanel, Prada and other designers, do you have helpful articles or life stories about them too?

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